Sam Rayburn edges Pasadena in 22-6A opener 45-43

Published 6:20 pm, Tuesday, December 20, 2016

If your last name was Martinez, you had a delicious District 22-6A-opening contest in the Texans Gym Tuesday afternoon.

A monster game by Sam Rayburn post player Roger Martinez, who finished with the double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds proved to be just enough as the Texans nipped rival Pasadena 45-43 Tuesday afternoon.

At least on the scoring end, Pasadena's Josh Martinez tried his best to neutralize the Rayburn Martinez. The Eagles' returning all-district player finished with a game-high 17 points. His seventh bucket of the game, a dramatic 10-footer, got the team within a bucket but it also arrived with just one second remaining.

Sam Rayburn had a trio of players score in double figures. Trey Burnett scored 14 points and sophomore Deunte Walls tacked on 10. But it was the work of Roger Martinez on the boards that stood out.

"He was a grown man tonight. We hope that Roger can get to where he can consistently do that because we've seen it. He's our most improved player. It's not close. Since the fall, he's done stuff we didn't think he could do. We didn't think he had a great summer but he had a great fall," Sam Rayburn head coach Ryan Campbell said.

Pasadena didn't enjoy the lead on the scoreboard many times, but when Jose Rivera slammed home a ball, the Eagles found themselves up 28-27 midway into the third period.

But it also kicked off Pasadena's greatest scoring drought, going seven consecutive possessions without a score, opening the door for an 8-0 Sam Rayburn run, giving the Texans a 35-28 lead, the largest lead by either team on this day.

In one of the few times Pasadena was winning the rebounding job under Rayburn's bucket, the Eagles wound up turning the ball over three straight times. The first two miscues didn't hurt the team, but the third muff led to a Walls' 3-point goal with 58 seconds remaining in the third.

The streak ended in the opening seconds of the fourth when Walls fed Martinez for the score, two of Martinez's five points in the final stanza.

But Josh Martinez went on a one-player spree to get his teammates right back in the contest. scoring three buckets, one of which was sparked by a steal. His first was a 3-point goal, followed by a flying lay-up and the third ended a possession in which Pasadena must have passed close to 20 times before Martinez scored off a Jose Rivera pass.

But Rayburn collected itself, getting points from Mancia, Walls and Burnett that helped get the lead back to seven with only 56 seconds remaining.

It got a little dicey at the end, but the lead was just strong enough.

"We don't play a lot of man, but we didn't want to sit in our soft zone look and they get an open three. Every shot had to be contested, particularly for 24, 1 and 13. We didn't want those guys getting good looks. If we arrived late on any of their other guys, we could live with the results, but we didn't want the guys that we know could beat you to get a good look. That's why you save those time outs and you say that 50 times," Campbell said.